INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney.[4][5] The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly.[6] For 20years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band.[4][6] Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.[4]
After Hutchence's death on 22 November 1997, INXS made appearances with several guest singers, and toured and recorded with Jon Stevens as lead singer, beginning in 2000.[5] In 2005, members of INXS participated in Rock Star: INXS, a reality television series that culminated in the selection of Canadian J.D. Fortune as their new lead singer.[11] Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Gribbin replaced Fortune as lead singer in 2011. During a concert on 11 November 2012, INXS stated that the performance would be their last, although they did not announce the band's permanent retirement.
INXS has won six Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, including three for "Best Group" in 1987, 1989 and 1992;[12] the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.[13][14] INXS has sold over 75million albums worldwide, making them one of Australia's highest selling music acts of all time.[15][16]
History
Early years
The origins of the band began with Andrew Farriss convincing his fellow Davidson High School classmate, Michael Hutchence, to join his band, Doctor Dolphin.[17] The band contained two further classmates, Kent Kerny and Neil Sanders, as well as Garry Beers and Geoff Kennely, both from a nearby high school, Forest High School.[17] In 1977, Tim Farriss, Andrew's older brother, invited Andrew, Hutchence and Beers to join him and his schoolmate Kirk Pengilly. Tim and Pengilly had been playing together since 1971 as either an acoustic duo, Kirk and Tim, or as a four-piece band called Guinness[17] (named after their bass player's dog).[18] Together with younger brother Jon Farriss they formed "The Farriss Brothers", who consisted of Garry Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar, Michael Hutchence on lead vocals and Kirk Pengilly on guitar and saxophone.[4][6][19] The band made their debut on 16 August 1977 at Whale Beach,[20] 40km (25mi) north of Sydney.[20]
The parents of the Farriss boys relocated to Perth, Western Australia in 1978, taking Jon to continue his schooling and as soon as Hutchence and Andrew finished school, the rest of the band followed.[5][20] They briefly performed as The Vegetables, singing "We Are the Vegetables", before returning to Sydney ten months later,[20] where they recorded a set of demos.[17] At a chance meeting in the car park of the Royal Antler, a pub in Narrabeen on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales, Tim was approached by Gary Morris who was the manager of Midnight Oil.[17]
The band began to regularly support Midnight Oil and other local bands. Morris advised that a member of the Oils crew had come up with a new name and suggested they change it to INXS.[17] The name INXS was inspired by English band XTC and Australian jam makers IXL.[5][20] Pengilly later explained that Morris was interested in turning the group into a Christian band, which the band briefly considered before rejecting the idea.[17]
The band's first performance as INXS was on 1 September 1979 at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Umina[21] on the Central Coast of New South Wales and by the end of 1979, after passing on the Christian band image, they hired Chris "CM" Murphy as their manager and continued taking on the Oz pub circuit.[5][18][20][22] Murphy was an adept business manager and negotiator and by early 1980 the band had signed a five-album record deal with a Sydney independent label, Deluxe Records, run by Michael Browning, a former manager of AC/DC.[4][5][17]
INXS released their first single, "Simple Simon"/"We Are the Vegetables", in Australia and France in May 1980.[4][18][23] The single had its debut TV performance on Simon Townsend's Wonder World.[20] Their self-titled debut album, INXS, was recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Annandale, Sydney. It was co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire (ex-Ayers Rock), with all songs attributed to the entire band, at the insistence of Murphy.[17][18] Deluxe gave them a budget of $10,000 to record the album, so to keep within the budget they had to record from midnight to dawn, usually after doing one or more performances earlier that night.[18] The album was released in October 1980. It featured "Just Keep Walking" which was their first Australian Top 40 single,[4][7] with the album peaking in the Top 30 of the Kent Music Report for Australian albums.[4][6][7] The album eventually went gold (selling over 35,000 units) but it took a number of years to do so.[17]
These early records demonstrated their new wave/ska/pop style, and were followed by near constant touring with almost 300 shows during 1981 as the band developed their status as a live act.[4][5] In 1981, they signed Gary Grant as their tour manager, who then became co-manager a year later.[17] Between touring commitments, the band released their third single in May 1981, "The Loved One", which was a cover of a 1966 song by Australian group The Loved Ones. The song was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney;[17] it was produced by Richard Clapton[6] and peaked in the Top 20.[4][7][23]
The success of the single led to Clapton and the band returning to Studios 301 between July and August 1981 to create an album. In October 1981, their second album Underneath the Colours was released and became a hit in Australia peaking at No.15.[7]
Soon after recording sessions had finished, band members started work on outside projects. Beers, Jon and Andrew Farriss played on Clapton's solo album, The Great Escape. Hutchence recorded "Speed Kills", written by Don Walker of Cold Chisel for the soundtrack of the film Freedom directed by Scott Hicks. It was his first solo single and was released by WEA in early 1982.[17] In January, INXS toured New Zealand as support act for Cold Chisel. Murphy eventually became convinced their future no longer lay with Deluxe Records.
RCA (who distributed Deluxe) had employed music lover Rockin Rod Woods, who had been promoting Eric Clapton, Split Enz and some of the world's biggest acts. Woods was passionate about the band and brought key music people along to their gigs. He encouraged RCA to sign them worldwide because Murphy had played him some demos. Deluxe had been unable to attract international interest so the band decided to record a new song, "The One Thing" at their own expense, with Mark Opitz at Paradise Studios.[17] The song turned out so well that Murphy hired Opitz to produce three more songs.[18] Murphy approached WEA Australia with copies of the song, leading to INXS signing a recording deal in July 1982 with WEA for releases in Australia, South East Asia, Japan, New Zealand, Atco Records (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records) for North America, and PolyGram for Europe including the UK.[4][5][6][17]
Murphy and the band were not entirely convinced that Opitz could produce an entire album that would attract international interest, so before recording their third album Pengilly, Hutchence, and Andrew Farriss visited the United Kingdom and USA, with a view to selecting a suitable producer, only to find that no one they wanted was available and that most people advised them that Opitz's work on their single was as good as they could wish for.[17]
To complete the band's contract with DeLuxe Records, INXS produced their first compilation album, INXSIVE, released in early 1982 for the Australian market only, featuring highlights from the band's first two studio albums, related B-sides, and two non-album singles.
In mid-1982 they began recording at Rhinoceros Studios with Opitz.[6] In October 1982, Shabooh Shoobah was released internationally on Atlantic/Atco Records, peaking at No.52 on the US Billboard 200 and No.46 on the Hot Pop Albums chart.[10][24] In Australia it peaked at No.5 and remained in the albums charts for 94 weeks.[7] The single "The One Thing" brought them their first Top 30 hit in United States peaking at No.30 on 28 May 1983,[25] It was also a Top 20 hit in Canada,[9] and peaked at No.14 in Australia on 23 August 1982.[7] "One Thing" was their first video to air on the fledgling MTV and significantly added to the ultimate success of the single.[18]
INXS circa 1983
13 February 1983, saw INXS play the Stop The Drop nuclear disarmament concert to 14,000 at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, alongside Midnight Oil, Colin Hay, Redgum and Goanna. It was simulcast on Australian TV by Channel 10 and Radio 2MMM.
INXS undertook their first US performance in San Diego in March 1983, to a crowd of 24 patrons.[17] Their first tour was as support for Adam and the Ants, then support for Stray Cats, The Kinks,[4] and Hall & Oates followed by The Go-Go's.[17][18] INXS played alongside many of their contemporaries on New Wave Day in May 1983 at the US Festival in Devore, San Bernardino, California.[26] During that time, their co-manager Gary Grant relocated permanently to New York City to ensure a continual presence in the northern hemisphere.[17] The band remained on the road in the US for most of the year, including support for Men at Work and by mid-1983 were headlining venues such as The Ritz in New York.[17]
After a performance in Toronto the band was approached by producer Nile Rodgers; by September 1983, the band had recorded "Original Sin" (originally entitled "Brand New Day") at New York's Power Station Studios.[17] Three tracks from Shabooh Shoobah were featured in the soundtrack for the 1984 film Reckless.[27] The band then travelled to the UK to begin sessions on their fourth album with Nick Launay at the Manor Studios in Oxford.[17]
The album The Swing, released in April 1984,[6] received significant attention from around the world, as "Original Sin" became the band's first No.1 single in Australia and was popular worldwide with fans and reviewers.[28] During 1984, the single reached no. 1 in Australia (for two weeks in January),[7]Argentina, and France; No.6 in New Zealand; No.11 in Canada; No.23 in Switzerland;[29] No.31 in the Netherlands; and No.58 in the U.S.[9] However, "Original Sin" was largely ignored in the U.K., and INXS would not have any Top 50 chart success in the United Kingdom until the 1985 album Listen Like Thieves.[30]
During 1984, INXS toured non-stop, performing across Europe, the UK, the US and Australia. By December 1984, The Swing had gone double platinum, making it one of the five biggest domestic albums in the history of Australian music at the time.[17]
In March 1985, the band returned to Sydney's Rhinoceros Studios and recorded the Listen Like Thieves album along with producer Chris Thomas (Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, The Pretenders, Elton John).[17] As the band was finishing the recording sessions, Thomas stated that the album was not good enough and still had no "killer" track. Andrew produced a demo tape of a funk song he had been working on called "Funk Song No.13" and evolved it into "What You Need".[17]
While the band was recording, WEA released Dekadance, a limited edition 12" Vinyl and cassette only EP of INXS remixes from their albums The Swing and Shabooh Shoobah.[6]
On 19 May 1985, INXS won seven awards at the 1984 Countdown Music and Video Awards ceremony.[4] They performed "Burn for You", dressed in Akubras (hats) and Drizabones (outdoor coats/oilskin jackets). The band performed five songs for the July 1985 Oz for Africa concert, in conjunction with the Live Aid benefit.[31] Two INXS songs, "What You Need" and "Don't Change", were also in the BBC broadcast and are contained on Live Aid's four DVD boxed set released in 2004.[32]
Listen Like Thieves was released in October 1985[6] to critical approval,[33] reaching No.3 on the Australian charts and No.11 on the US charts. With the release of Listen Like Thieves, the band developed a rock sound influenced by Led Zeppelin and XTC while remaining true to the band's original roots in Aussie pubs. It was also the first album to feature songs written by a combination of band members, with Andrew Farris and Hutchence becoming the primary songwriters in the years to follow.[18] The first U.S. single from the album, "This Time", stalled at No.81 in late 1985, but the next single, "What You Need"—released there in early 1986—became a top five Billboard hit,[9] bringing INXS its first break-out US success. The single was also a top 20 hit in Canada and reached No.2 in Australia (September 1985),[7] but only reached No.51 on the UK charts.[30] The British press dismissed the album, with New Musical Express calling the band 'INX-cusable' and a reviewer declaring Listen Like Thieves to be a 'complete and utter turkey'.[17] In the United States, however, Rolling Stone wrote, "INXS rocks with passion and seals the deal with a backbeat that'll blackmail your feet."[33]
In August 1985, INXS toured ahead of the release of Listen Like Thieves, touring South America before returning to Melbourne to play for Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales at a concert. The concert was filmed and later released on a home video entitled Living INXS;[34] an edited version of the concert was played on MTV in the U.S. in 1985 on its Saturday night concert series. INXS toured North America, Europe, and New Zealand from November 1985 to February 1986. Next the band took a two-month break, with Andrew Farriss writing and producing "You're Gonna Get Hurt" for Jenny Morris (who had previously been a backing vocalist with the band),[35] and Hutchence featuring in Richard Lowenstein's second feature film Dogs in Space.[36] Lowenstein had previously made the video clip for "Dancing on the Jetty". While a song from the movie, "Rooms for the Memory", written by Ollie Olsen, with vocals by Hutchence[37] charted, the movie was received well by critics but was not a commercial success. Beginning in May 1986, the band performed 32 European shows (including support for Queen at their Live at Wembley '86 concert on 12 July), 42 U.S. shows, and 12 Australian shows. America's influential Musician magazine called INXS "the best live band in the world."[17]
While on an eight-month break before beginning work on a new album, Murphy, their manager, decided to stage a series of major outdoor concerts across Australia, featuring INXS, Jimmy Barnes, Models, Divinyls, Mental as Anything, The Triffids and I'm Talking.[20] To promote the tour, INXS recorded two songs with Jimmy Barnes of Cold Chisel: The Easybeats cover "Good Times" and "Laying Down the Law" which Barnes co-wrote with Beers, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Hutchence and Pengilly.[38] "Good Times" was used as the theme song for the Australian Made series of concerts in the summer of 1986–1987.[20] It peaked at No.2 on the Australian charts,[7] and months later was featured in the Joel Schumacher film The Lost Boys and its soundtrack,[39][40] allowing it to peak at No.47 in the US on 1 August 1987.[9][25] After the success of "What You Need" and Listen Like Thieves, the band knew their new material would have to be even better and wanted every song on the album to be good enough to be a single.[20] They recorded Kick in Sydney and Paris, produced by Chris Thomas.[6] According to the 2005 official autobiography, Atlantic Records was not happy with the result; the label offered the band $1million to go back to Australia and record another album, but the band declined.[18]
Despite Atlantic's protests, Kick was released in October 1987 and provided the band with worldwide popularity. The album peaked at No.1 in Australia,[7] No.3 on the US Billboard 200,[24] No.9 in UK,[30] and No.15 in Austria.[41] It was an upbeat, confident album that yielded four Top 10 US singles: No. 1 single "Need You Tonight", "Devil Inside", "New Sensation", and "Never Tear Us Apart".[9] "Need You Tonight" peaked No.2 on the UK charts,[30] No.3 in Australia,[7] and No.10 in France.[42] The band toured heavily behind the album throughout 1987 and 1988. The video for the 1987 INXS track "Mediate" (which played after the video for "Need You Tonight") replicated the format of Bob Dylan's video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues", even in its use of apparently deliberate errors. In September 1988, the band swept the MTV Video Music Awards with the video for "Need You Tonight/Mediate" winning in 5 categories.[43]Kick was, by far, INXS's best-selling album of all time.
During 1989, Hutchence collaborated with Ian "Ollie" Olsen on a side project, Max Q,[4] the two had previously worked together on Lowenstein's film Dogs in Space. The rest of the band also took a break to work on side projects, but soon returned to the studio to record their follow-up album to Kick.
In October 1990, INXS released X which was produced by Chris Thomas. The album peaked at No.3 in Australia,[8] No.5 in the US,[24] No.2 in the UK,[30] No.5 in Switzerland and No.10 in Sweden.[10][44] It followed in the same vein as Kick, and added harmonica to some songs. X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" (both Top 10 in the US).[9] "Suicide Blonde" peaked at No.2 in Australia, No.11 in the UK[30] and in Switzerland.[45] Other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side", which had less chart success.[4]
INXS performed at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1991, during their "Summer XS" tour stop in London to a sold-out audience of 74,000 fans.[4] This performance was recorded and filmed to become Live Baby Live, a live album that was released in November 1991 and peaked in the Top 30 in the Australia and UK album charts.[8][30] The album had less success on The Billboard 200.[24] A video version of the album was also released under the same title. This concert was the band's most well-attended show of all time; according to a 2017 article by Paul Donoughue of ABC.net.au, it "solidified [INXS's] place in pop history".[46]
On 28 March 1992, INXS performed at the controversial Concert for Life at Centennial Park in Sydney (a fundraiser for the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Centre), and other performers included Crowded House, Yothu Yindi, Jenny Morris, Diesel, Ratcat, and Def FX. Due to inclement weather, the expected attendance of 100,000 never came through, and the event only raised $500,000.[47]
Welcome to Wherever You Are, produced by Mark Opitz and released in August 1992,[6] was an experimental album using sitars and a 60-piece orchestra while adding a more "raw" sound. It received good critical reviews reaching No.1 in the UK[30] and in Sweden;[48] No.2 in Australia and Switzerland,[48] and No.3 in Norway,[48] but had less chart success in the US (peaking at No.16).[24] Singles from the album included "Taste It" and "Baby Don't Cry", which were Top 20 successes in UK but had less success in US and Australian markets.[8][9][30]
Full Moon, Dirty Hearts, produced by Opitz, was released in November 1993 and peaked at No.3 on the UK charts,[30] No.4 in Australia,[8] No.8 in Sweden,[49] No.9 in Switzerland,[49] No.14 in Norway;[49] it did not reach the Top 50 in the US.[24] The title track featured The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, and another track--"Please (You Got That)"—featured Ray Charles. The band made a full video album for the record using unknown Australian students to direct with help from Richard Lowenstein. Full Moon, Dirty Hearts received mixed reviews, and was the last record under INXS' contract with Atlantic in the States. The band took time off to rest and be with their families, while Hutchence remained in the public eye through modelling and film acting.[4]
In 1997, the group released a comeback album titled Elegantly Wasted, which garnered mixed reviews. It fared respectably in Australia (No.14),[8][50] Canada (No.14),[24] France (No.30),[50] UK (No.16)[30] (where INXS had more success in the 1990s than in the 1980s), Belgium (No.7),[50] Switzerland (No.13),[50] but only No.41 in US.[24]
On 22 November 1997, Michael Hutchence was found dead in his Sydney Ritz-Carlton hotel room.[51] On 6 February 1998, New South Wales State Coroner Derrick Hand presented his report, which ruled that Hutchence's death was a suicide while depressed and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.[51][52][53] Despite the official coroner's report, there was continued speculation that Hutchence's death was accidental.[54][55]
The members of INXS collaborated with several Australian singers before settling on Jon Stevens as a replacement for Hutchence.
After Hutchence's death, INXS did not perform publicly for almost a year, and then only made a few one-off performances with different guest singers until 2000.[5] On 14 November 1998, they played at the Mushroom 25 Concert with Jimmy Barnes fronting for two songs: "The Loved One" and "Good Times".[5][21] On 12 June 1999, they headlined the opening of Stadium Australia in Sydney, with US singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby and Russell Hitchcock as guest vocalists, they performed "New Sensation", "Kick", "Never Tear Us Apart" and "What You Need".[5][21]
In December 2000, INXS performed a concert with singers Suze DeMarchi and Jon Stevens sharing the spotlight. DeMarchi was reportedly offered the role of permanent singer in the band.[56] The former lead singer of Australian band Noiseworks, Jon Stevens began singing with INXS on a regular basis.[5] INXS played as one of the headline acts at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and then toured through South America and Europe.[21] Stevens was officially named a member of INXS in 2002, and the band started recording new material in November.[5] He left the band in October 2003 to pursue a solo career,[5] and only recorded a contractual obligation song called "I Get Up."
2004–2005: Rock Star: INXS
INXS returned to the news in 2004 when it was announced that a new reality television program titled Rock Star: INXS would feature a contest to find a new lead vocalist for the band.[11] The show, which debuted on the CBS network on 11 July 2005, featured 15 contestants vying for the position of lead singer. The show was executive produced by Survivor's Mark Burnett and hosted by Brooke Burke and Jane's Addiction and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro.
With Fortune as lead singer, INXS released the single "Pretty Vegas" on 4 October 2005. The single reached No.5 on the iTunes Store ranking of daily most downloaded songs on its first day. It peaked at No.9 in Australia[8] and No.37 on the Billboard Hot 100,[9] and became a huge radio airplay hit in Fortune's native Canada. On 29 November 2005, Switch—the band's first album with Fortune as lead singer—was released in the United States via Epic Records. The band's new line-up started a world tour in support of Switch in January 2006.[57] In September 2006, INXS and Epic Records parted ways.[58] The band then performed at the 2006 NRL Grand Final.
INXS toured Australia and New Zealand in March 2007, with Simple Minds and support band Arrested Development.[59] After the cancellation of a 31 August 2007 show in Cleveland, Ohio, INXS placed a statement on their website saying "Due to ongoing medical issues with Garry Beers' hand, the band's doctor has urged the band to not play more than three shows in a row or risk permanent damage to Garry's hand."[60]
The band signed with Petrol Electric Records in December 2008, reuniting them with former manager Chris Murphy.[61] On 16 February 2009, J.D. Fortune told Entertainment Tonight Canada that INXS had let him go from the band with a shake of the hand at an airport in Hong Kong.[62] On 23 February 2009, Chris Murphy, INXS creative director and global business strategist and former manager, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, said J.D. was not sacked and, in fact, "the band made it known to him that they had not ruled out seeing a return by Fortune." He also stated J.D. was next on his list to call regarding a major recording contract he was negotiating for the band.[63] In an interview with Sun Media published on 6 March 2009, J.D. Fortune clarified his claim that he had been fired at an airport. After returning to Canada from Hong Kong, Fortune believed there were still two more legs of the INXS 2007 tour to complete. When the rest of the tour was cancelled and the band did not return his calls for 10 months, he believed he was out of the band.[64]
On 30 November 2009, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, and Kirk Pengilly performed an acoustic version of "Don't Change" with the Qantas Choir at the Pride of Australia Awards.[65] On 8 December 2009, INXS announced they would be embarking on a world tour commencing with a performance in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.[66] The band announced on 11 February 2010 that J.D. Fortune would be vocalist for the performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics, but that it would be a one-off performance; they added that a vocalist for the upcoming world tour had yet to be announced.[67] The band performed at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on 24 February 2010 with guest singers J.D. Fortune and Argentine singer Deborah de Corral.[68]
On 22 April 2010, INXS announced that Fortune would again front the band for a performance on 10 July 2010 at Townsville, Queensland and also on 16 July 2010 in Broome, Western Australia.[69] During a radio interview with Kirk Pengilly and J.D. Fortune in July 2010 just before the Broome concert, Pengilly confirmed that Fortune had returned as the band's permanent singer. In August 2010, Petrol Records issued Australian radio stations with a one-track promo "Never Tear Us Apart" featuring Ben Harper on vocals, a preview from the upcoming INXS Michael Hutchence tribute album Original Sin. On 25 September 2010, the band performed before the 2010 AFL Grand Final. On 19 October 2010, it was announced in the Courier Mail that INXS, fronted by J.D. Fortune, would tour as part of the A Day on the Green winery concerts in February."[70]
In March 2011, INXS confirmed they would return to the UK and headlining with support from New Zealand band Shihad for an outdoor event called Southern Sounds on Clapham Common, London on Saturday 11 June.[75] The event was an all-Australian, New Zealand and South African celebration lineup, with INXS fronted by J.D. Fortune. INXS toured extensively throughout 2011 with singer J.D. Fortune to support the album Original Sin.
The band released a demo of a song, called "Tiny Summer" in streaming format on their official website in September 2011; they also announced that J.D. Fortune had again left the band and Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Gribbin was the band's frontman for their forthcoming tour of Australia, South America, and Europe in November and December 2011.[76] On 6 October 2012, INXS were the headline act at the annual charity ball organised by the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondent's Club.[77]
During a concert on 11 November 2012 at the newly opened Perth Arena, while supporting Matchbox Twenty, INXS announced that they would no longer be touring. Kirk Pengilly stated that it was appropriate to finish where they had started 35 years earlier.[78] Jon Farriss admitted that he was "getting teary" before the band performed their biggest hit, "Need You Tonight". In 2014, INXS released a tell-all history of the band on an Australian television interview special, The Story Behind INXS. During the interview, Jon Farriss made the statement, "Never say never" regarding the possibility that the band could record and perform more music in the future.[79]
In 2013, Australian TV network Seven Network announced that it would produce a miniseries focusing on the band's behind-the-scenes stories called INXS: Never Tear Us Apart. Band member Tim Farriss was a pre-production consultant on the show. The miniseries commenced production at the end of June 2013 and premiered on 9 February 2014; the finale aired the following Sunday night (16 February 2014). The miniseries rated very highly for both nights and created a renewed interest in the band, which translated to a resurgence in sales of their music that brought them once again to the number one position on the Australian popular music charts.[80]Luke Arnold was cast as Michael Hutchence, Alex Williams as Kirk Pengilly, Nicholas Masters as Tim Farriss, Hugh Sheridan as bass guitarist Gary Beers, Ido Drent as Jon Farriss and Andy Ryan as Andrew Farriss. In addition, Damon Herriman played band manager CM Murphy and Samantha Jade played Kylie Minogue.[81] Given the popularity of this TV miniseries, there was talk of a Broadway musical and a feature film about INXS in the future.[82]
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), INXS has sold over 15million units in the United States alone, making them the third-highest selling Australian music act in the United States behind AC/DC and The Bee Gees.[87] INXS has sold over 50 million records worldwide.[16][15]
Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week but then independently.[102] The Countdown Music and Video Awards were succeeded by the ARIA Awards.[102] INXS won seven awards at the 1984 awards ceremony,[4] which was broadcast on 25 May 1985.[103] On 20 April 1986 they won three further Countdown awards for 1985.[104] They won further award in the final awards in 1986, from five nominations.[105]
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. INXS won two awards in that time.[108]
↑ Award was shared between Richard Lowenstein for the INXS video "Burn for You" and B Sharp Productions for Mental As Anything video "Apocalypso".[103]
↑ Award to Richard Lowenstein and Lynn-Maree Milburn for the INXS video "What You Need".[104]
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Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian singer. He was the co-founder, lead singer, and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 million records worldwide, making them one of Australia's highest-selling music acts of all time. They were also inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.
Full Moon, Dirty Hearts is the ninth studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 1 November 1993, through East West Records in Australia and in the United Kingdom by Phonogram's Mercury Records label. and by Atlantic Records in the United States. It was followed by the Dirty Honeymoon world tour of 1993–1994.
Kick is the sixth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 19 October 1987 through WEA in Australia, Mercury Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The album was produced by British producer Chris Thomas, recorded by David Nicholas in Sydney and Paris and mixed by Bob Clearmountain at AIR Studios in London.
Listen Like Thieves is the fifth studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 14 October 1985. It spent two weeks at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Considered an international breakthrough album for the band, it peaked at No. 11 on the United States Billboard 200, No. 24 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums and in the top 50 in the United Kingdom.
Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, which was released on 3 August 1992. With grunge and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more "raw" sound to their music. In its four-star review of the album, Q called it "... a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory ... It rocks," and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992. It was the first album by an Australian artist to debut on the UK Albums Chart at number one since AC/DC's Back in Black, released in 1980.
The Swing is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 21 March 1984. It peaked at number one on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart for five non-consecutive weeks from early April to mid-May 1984. The lead single "Original Sin" was recorded in New York City with Nile Rodgers and featured Daryl Hall on backing vocals. Overall, the album featured a slightly harder-edged sound than their previous releases.
X is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 25 September 1990 through WEA in Australia, Mercury Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear". Both singles were later used in the soundtrack to the 1991 American teen comedy Mystery Date. Two other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success. A fifth single, "The Stairs", was only issued in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Live Baby Live album.
Shabooh Shoobah is the third studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 13 October 1982. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 94 weeks. It was the band's first album to be released worldwide and appeared on the United States Billboard 200 and on the Hot Pop Albums Chart. The album spawned four singles, "The One Thing", "Don't Change", "To Look at You" and "Black and White". It was produced by Mark Opitz for WEA Australia with most tracks written by band members Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence.
INXS is the debut studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on Deluxe Records in Australia on 13 October 1980. The band recorded the album in midnight to dawn sessions during 1979 to 1980 after performing, on average, two gigs a day at local pubs around Sydney. All tracks were credited to band members, Garry Gary Beers ; brothers Andrew, Jon and Tim Farriss ; Michael Hutchence ; and Kirk Pengilly. The album was co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire. It spawned the single, "Just Keep Walking", which became their first Australian Top 40 hit. INXS peaked in the Top 30 of the related Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The album did not appear internationally until 1984.
Underneath the Colours is the second studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released in Australia in 19 October 1981 on the Deluxe Records label and reached No 15 on the Australian album charts.
Jason Dean Bennison, better known by his stage name J.D. Fortune, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was the frontman of the Australian rock band INXS for six years after winning the first season of the CBS reality television series Rock Star: INXS; in 2005, replacing its late lead singer Michael Hutchence. After the show, Fortune fronted INXS through an extended 2+1⁄2-year world tour supporting the release of the album Switch, INXS's first studio album with Fortune, and the only album with new INXS material after Hutchence's death.
Switch is the eleventh studio album by the Australian rock band INXS, and their last to be composed of entirely new material. It was released on 29 November 2005 and produced by Guy Chambers. It was their first full-length studio album since the 1997 death of vocalist Michael Hutchence, and the only album to feature singer J.D. Fortune.
"Afterglow" is a song by Australian rock band INXS. It was released in April 2006 as the second single from the band's eleventh studio album, Switch.
Andrew Charles Farriss is an Australian rock musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist, backing vocalist, and main composer for rock band INXS. Farriss released his debut studio album in 2021.
"Need You Tonight" is a song by the Australian rock band INXS, released as the first single from their 1987 album, Kick, as well as the fourth song on the album. It is the only INXS single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also achieved their highest charting position in the United Kingdom, where the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart; however, this peak was only reached after a re-release of the single in November 1988. On its first run on the UK charts in October 1987, it stalled at No. 58. It was one of the last songs recorded for the album, yet it would arguably become the band's signature song.
Kirk Pengilly is an Australian musician and member of the Australian rock group INXS. Kirk plays saxophone and guitar, and also performs as a backing vocalist.
Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything, I'm Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, INXS and even Jimmy Barnes. The series started in Hobart on 26 December 1986 and concluded in Sydney on 26 January 1987. Rock journalist Jeff Jenkins rated it as one of his 50 most significant events in Australian music history, "It wasn't a huge success, but it showed that an all-Australian festival could work." Australian Made was conceived to counter tours of international acts, like Dire Straits' 1985–1986 world tour, which were drying up funds for Australian groups. As from October 2010, the following artists have been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame: INXS and The Saints, Barnes, Divinyls (2006), The Triffids (2008), Mental As Anything (2009), and Models (2010).
"By My Side" is a single by Australian band INXS, the third UK single and fourth Australian single taken from their seventh studio album, X (1990). The song was written by Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence and Kirk Pengilly as part of the 1990 sessions for the X album. Record producer Chris Thomas, who produced the album, is also given songwriting credits, specifically contributing to the chorus and arrangement, as explained in the liner notes for the X album special edition in 2002. Farriss has said "By My Side" was written about missing family and friends while touring.
Original Sin is the twelfth and final studio album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released on physical media on 16 November 2010 by Epic Records, Atco Records and Polydor after having been released digitally on 28 October 2010. Original Sin features covers of their earlier songs, with each song featuring a guest singer. J.D. Fortune, who was the winner of the Rock Star: INXS competition and featured on the band's previous album Switch, performed lead vocals for the 1990 track "The Stairs", being the last contribution from Fortune before his departure in 2011.
INXS: Never Tear Us Apart is a two-part Australian miniseries about the rock band INXS and was originally telecast on 9 February 2014, and concluded on 16 February 2014, produced by Shine Australia and airing on the Seven Network.
↑ Holmgren, Magnus; Warnqvist, Stefan. "Jenny Morris Discography". Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) INXS' own web site announcing end of touring
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